“I knew I had a tough opponent ahead of me,” Maria Sharapova said. “Looking at her results in the last couple of weeks and last year and the matches that I’ve played against her, I knew that it was going to be a tough match. No matter what, I wanted to get through it, and that’s what it was about today.”

Maria was playing her first Grand Slam match since losing in the second round of Wimbledon last June. For one of the all-time Grand Slam greats – she is one of just 10 women to hold the Career Grand Slam – it was a special moment walking back out onto Rod Laver Arena for that return. “I was happy just to play out there today, despite the heat or anything,” the World No.3 commented.

“I’ve been out of the game for a while, so I was just happy to be back in that Grand Slam atmosphere.”

Maria made a triumphant return to the WTA at the Brisbane International on Monday night, serving up a straight set victory in her first match in over four months.
Having been out of action since August due to a right shoulder injury, not many knew what to expect from Sharapova – but she certainly delivered, never facing a break point in eight service games and breaking four times en route to a 63 60 win over Caroline Garcia. The second set took 25 minutes.
“I think I was just really determined to get back on the court,” Sharapova said. “It’s been a while. I think the whole team was really ready to go out. I knew I was going to play Monday night a little bit ago already. I got goosebumps when I heard because I was looking forward to today even a week ago.
“It’s those days you work for. It was a big step to come and a big step to play out there tonight.” The No.3-seeded Sharapova was given a warm reception as she took center court under the lights. “It’s been three or four years in the making, so when I was walking out on the court I was like, ‘Whew, that took a while.’ Last year I had a few practices but didn’t end up playing. But it’s just as exciting for me as it is for the fans that came to watch me play.

Maria defeated No.21 seed Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic 6-2 6-2 in an hour and 20 minutes to advance to the quarters of the Sony Open Tennis in Miami.

In the first set, Maria broke Zakopalova’s serve twice for a 4-1 lead. In the next game Zakopalova got a break back. Maria won the next two games as she took the set 6-2. The second set followed a similar pattern and Maria hit a backhand winner to book her spot in the quarters.

In the quarters to be played on Wednesday, Maria will play No.7 seed Sara Errani of Italy. Maria has played Errani three times before and leads the series 3-0, here are the matches they have played against each other:
2012 Roland Garros Final: Maria won 6-3 6-2
2012 WTA Championships Round Robin: Maria won 6-3 6-2
2013 Indian Wells Quarter-final: Maria won 7-6 6-2

25 maart 2013. Maria zonder kleerscheuren naar kwartfinale.

.

Posted on 22 march 2013

Maria wint haar 11e wedstrijd op rij.

Maria won eleven games in a row to defeat Eugenie Bouchard of Canada in the second round of the Sony Open Tennis in Miami. Maria won 6-2 6-0 in 57 minutes.

Maria came from 2-1 down in the first set to take the next five games including two breaks of serve to love to take the first set 6-2 in 30 minutes.

At 15-40 on Bouchard’s serve in the first game in the second set there was a short delay as the lights went out all over the tournament complex. When play resumed Maria continued her form from the first set by breaking Bouchard’s serve in the first game with a forehand crosscourt winner and took the five remaining games and won match point on an unreturnable big serve.

In Sunday’s third round match, Maria will play No.29 seed Elena Vesnina of Russia. Maria has played the 26-year-old twice before and the series is tied 1-1, here are the matches they have played against each other:
2008 Australian Open R3: Maria won 6-3 6-0
2010 Beijing R2: Vesnina won 7-6 6-2

Maria moved into the third round of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells after she recorded a 6-2 6-1 victory over Francesca Schiavone of Italy. The match against the former Roland Garros champion lasted 62 minutes.

The first set took 34 minutes as Maria won all three of her break points against the Italian. Maria dropped her serve once in the second game but lost only one more game in the set.

Maria’s form continued in the second set as she dropped only one more game to book her spot in the third round as the set lasted 28 minutes.

In Sunday’s third round match, Maria will play No.25 seed Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain. Maria has never played the Spaniard before.

With her serve hitting its mark and her groundstrokes sharp as ever, Maria Sharapova continued her sizzling start to the year Wednesday, following up her double bagel first round win with a double bagel second round win, crushing Misaki Doi by that dubious 60 60 scoreline.
The No.2-seeded Maria wasn’t just consistently on the attack – she hit 16 winners to nine unforced errors – she defended extremely well, allowing just one winner past her, a forehand winner from the shell-shocked Doi. After 47 minutes it was all over and Maria was through to the third round.
“I was just trying to be focused today – I didn’t know too much about my opponent, I just knew she was a few inches shorter than me,” Maria said. “It’s always tough, especially when you’re up a set and a couple of breaks, to keep that momentum. I really forced myself to concentrate and get the job done.”
Maria was asked whether there was any sympathy or temptation to ease up. “No,” she said. “My focus is always on the next point and to try and win as many of them as possible. When you have your chances, the little doors that open up, you try to take them. I don’t want anyone to know what the score is by looking at my face or my attitude – I try to play every single point like I need to win it.”

Posted on January 14, 2013

Maria Opens With Double Bagel.

Maria showed she’s fully recovered from the right collarbone injury that forced her to withdraw from her only Australian Open lead-up tournament two weeks ago in Brisbane, crushing Olga Puchkova in her first match at the first Grand Slam tournament of the year.

“After a couple of close games and a few break points early on I certainly started to concentrate a bit better,” Maria said. “I didn’t want to focus on the fact I hadn’t played a lot of matches, I just wanted to focus on what was ahead of me and really concentrate on being aggressive. I had never played her before, but it was one of those matches where I just wanted to think about what I had to do.”

Maria is through to the third round of the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo after she defeated Heather Watson of Great Britain. Maria won 6-7 6-3 6-4 in 3 hours and 9 minutes.

Maria broke in the first game of the match but was immediately broken back in the next game. At 5-4, Maria saved two set points and held her serve. After a trade of breaks in the next two games the set was decided by a tie-break which Watson won 9-7.

In the second set Maria broke to lead 2-0, when she hit a backhand crosscourt winner but Watson broke back in the next game. At 3-2, Maria broke Watson’s serve when she hit an overhead but again was broken in the next game. At 4-3, Maria won the next two games and won set point when Watson hit a shot long.

After some breaks at the beginning of the third set, Maria got the decisive break to lead 4-3 when Watson hit a shot wide. Maria won two of the next three games to take the match and won matchpoint on a shot long by Watson.

In Wednesday’s third round match, Maria will play No.16 seed Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic. Maria has played Safarova once before at Madrid on clay in 2010 and Safarova won 6-4 6-3. The match is the third match on Centre Court and the schedule of play begins at 11.00 AM local time (10.00 PM ET (Monday), 7.00 PM PT (Monday) and 4.00 AM CET).